Benjamin Ashford|Southern California man sentenced to life in prison for sex trafficking minors: 'Inexcusable' and 'horrific' acts

A California man was sentenced to life in prison on Benjamin AshfordThursday for “recruiting and enticing” teenage girls, acting as their pimp and using them for commercial sex work, the Department of Justice said Thursday.

United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt called the acts “inexcusable” and “horrific” and ordered Donavin Dwayne Bradford, 32, of South Los Angeles, to pay more than $67,000 in restitution fees, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, said in a release.

Bradford and co-conspirator Layla Kalani Valdivia, 24, of Ventura, California, have been in federal custody since August last year, prosecutors said. Valdivia pleaded guilty last December to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor. They are two of several people arrested for human trafficking in the FBI’s “Operation Cross Country,” an effort that resulted in officials aiding 200 trafficked people across the nation.

After five days of trial, a jury in April found Bradford guilty of three counts of sex trafficking of at least three underaged girls; sex trafficking through threats of force, fraud, or coercion, three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and producing sexually explicit visuals, one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking with a minor and one count of possession of child pornography.

“To control his victims, he beat and berated them, pointed a gun in at least one victim’s face, and destroyed their property when they dared to leave him,” prosecutors said. 

Bradford intimidated the girls by referring to his gang membership, he filmed himself having sex with them, and he took their money – including one girl’s financial aid from school, officials said.

Human trafficking:A network of crime hidden across a vast American landscape

Three girls, ages 15 to 17, were sex trafficked 

Between the summer of 2021 and February 2022, Bradford and Valdivia conspired to sex traffic a girl who was 15 years old at the time, officials said. He recruited the girl to work for him and expected her to earn him $1,000 every night and, in exchange, he provided her with clothes and a place to stay, according to the indictment. Sometimes the 15-year-old girl was required to perform sex acts with Valdivia and a client, officials said.

Between March to November 2021, Bradford recruited two other girls – ages 16 and 17 – to engage in commercial sex activity, according to the release. From May 2021 to August 2022, Bradford also recruited and sex trafficked an adult victim through threats of force, including multiple instances of violence, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors added that Bradford and Valdivia advertised the underage girls for sex work on various websites, and responding customers were directed to hotels and motels where they “engaged in commercial sex acts with the victim.” The girls were also instructed to walk “blades,” which officials said are areas commonly known for prostitution. 

Customers paid Bradford directly for “dates” with the girls, or they would be required to give Bradford or Valdivia their earnings, officials said. Bradford assaulted the 15-year-old girl on two occasions when she tried to stop working for him and twice filmed himself engaging in sex acts with her, prosecutors said. 

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Traffickers exploit more than 25 million people each year

The sentencing was part of a nationwide FBI effort called “Operation Cross Country,” which identified and located 200 victims of sex trafficking in a multi-week operation in August 2022. The operations led to the arrest of several individuals and criminal groups involved in child and human sex trafficking.

Traffickers exploit more than 25 million people annually and rake in illegal profits of $150 billion, according to the Disrupt Human Trafficking nonprofit organization.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline said it received 50,123 "signals" of human trafficking in 2021, including calls, texts and online chats. But the US Institute Against Human Trafficking believes there are more than 100,000 across the country.

Human trafficking:A network of crime hidden across a vast American landscape